News

Penguins News

Pens-Panthers In-Game Blog

Track all the action from Pittsburgh's showdown with the Florida Panthers with our live in-game blog. Check back for stat updates, injury reports and other information.

0:00: Florida runs off six unanswered goals to defeat the Penguins, 6-2, at BankAtlantic Center. The Panthers salvage one win against the Penguins but Pittsburgh takes the season series, 3-1. Pittsburgh returns to the ice on Tuesday back at home against the Atlanta Thrashers.

0:03: Dvorak finishes off his hat trick by sending the puck the length of the ice following a blocked shot into an empty cage. Panthers 6, Penguins 2.

1:50: Fleury has been pulled for a sixth attacker. The Penguins trail by three.

2:01: The Penguins are now into the second minor penalty to Stillman.

2:57: Our top moment from the past decade:

#1 – Maxime Talbot scores twice in the second period and Marc-Andre Fleury denies Nicklas Lidstrom as the clock hits triple zeroes to secure the Penguins’ third Stanley Cup championship and first since 1992 with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.

3:58: One of the linesmen catches Stillman high-sticking Eaton behind the play. The Penguins get a four-minute power play.

3:58: The Penguins will return home for a brief two-game homestand on Tuesday against the Atlanta Thrashers and Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers. After that they hit the road for a five-game road swing through Toronto, Minnesota and three games in Western Canada.

6:52: Stillman's initial shot misses the net but he is the first player on the puck behind the net and sends a centering pass to Dvorak at the bottom of the right circle. His one-timer beats Fleury. Panthers 5, Penguins 2.

8:07: Fleury comes diving out of his net to poke the puck off the stick of Horton, who would have had a breakaway.

9:01: Our runner-up moment of the decade:

#2 – Team owner/Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux returns from a three-and-a-half year absence when the Penguins take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 27, 2000. Lemieux set up a Jaromir Jagr goal 33 seconds into a 5-0 victory and added a goal and another assist during the second period.

9:01: Vokoun gloves a shot from Guerin to relieve pressure on the Panthers as the Penguins dominate play during and immediately after their power play.

11:14: The Penguins go on the power play for the second time today as Reinprecht takes a hooking penalty. Pittsburgh needs to score and turn Reinprecht from the hero into the goat.

11:49: Reinprecht has certainly been a Penguins killer in 2009-10. He takes a dish from Horton and beats Fleury along the ice to give the Panthers a two-goal lead. Panthers 4, Penguins 2.

13:44: We enter the top three in our moments of the decade:

#3 – With the bounce of a ping-pong ball the Penguins secured the No. 1-overall selection in the 2005 NHL Draft and the right to select Rimouski’s Sidney Crosby. The rest, they say, has been history.

14:09: Vokoun makes his save of the game as he somehow keeps a Staal shot out of the cage as he lay on the ice.

16:16: The Penguins are going to have to pick their play up in the defensive zone. Fleury slides across to deny Horton on this chance.16:54: Rupp steals a Florida clearing attempt along the far wall and sets up Adams in the slot but it's Vokoun's turn to make a key save.

17:19: Kamil Kreps spins around Orpik and takes a backhander on Fleury from three feet away but once again it is Fleury there to stand his ground.

18:02: Steven Reinprecht, who has three goals against the Penguins already this season, find himself wide open in front of Fleury but the Penguins netminder stacks the pads together to make the save.

20:00: The Penguins will have to come from behind if they are to end their four-game losing streak. In case you forgot, they have already done this twice this season against the Panthers:

Crosby scores the game-winning goal in overtie to cap a two-goal comeback at BankAtlantic Center on Nov. 23.

THIRD PERIOD

SECOND PERIOD NOTES:- Sidney Crosby has won nine of 12 faceoffs through two periods.- Crosby leads the Penguins with eight shots.- Ruslan Fedotenko has a game-high four hits.

0:00: The timer runs out on the second period and the Panthers convert two late goals into a 3-2 lead. Pittsburgh still has the advantage in shots, 28-24, but it was the Panthers who outshot the Penguins, 16-9, in the middle frame.

1:23: Bryan Allen's shot from the left point goes off the stick of a Penguin in front of the net and Rostislav Olesz slams the loose puck under Fleury. Panthers 3, Penguins 2.

2:25: Greg Campbell poked the puck of the blade of Malkin and Dvorak jumped on the loose biscuit in the slot and beat Fleury over the glove to tie the score. Penguins 2, Panthers 2.

2:49: Great hustle from Rupp allowed him to get to a loose puck in the Florida zone and his centering pass found the tape of Malkin, whose shot just went wide.

3:07: The Penguins bail Rupp out by killing his minor penalty.

3:56: The Penguins are doing a great job on this penalty kill to prevent the Panthers from getting pucks to the net. They have 49 seconds left to kill.

5:07: Mike Rupp is penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. This will be the Panthers first power play of the game.

5:07: The No. 4 moment from the Penguins last decade:

#4 - Maxime Talbot silencing the Philadelphia crowd after a fight with the Flyers Daniel Carcillo sparks a five-goal outburst as the Penguins turn a 3-0 deficit into a series-clinching 5-3 victory in Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

5:58:Craig Adams records his third big hit of the game when he drills Jay Garrison in the near corner of the Panthers zone.

8:50: Vokoun had trouble with an Orpik wrist shot from the point and Kennedy almost banks the rebound off Vokoun for his second goal of the game.

9:32: We enter the top five of our top moments from the past decade:

#5 – Owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux emerges from the runway at Mellon Arena and announces the Penguins have secured financing for a new arena prior to the Penguins facing the Buffalo Sabres on Mar. 13, 2007. The Consol Energy Center is slated to open at the beginning of next season.

10:02: The Panthers have a 9-5 shots advantage in the second period.

12:07: With the TV timeout we return to our countdown of the Penguins top moments of the past decade:

#6 – Darius Kasparaitis beats the Buffalo Sabres Dominik Hasek in overtime of Game 7 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Semifinals to clinch the series for the Penguins.

13:44: Fleury makes a pad save on a backhand attempt off the stick of Victor Oreskovich who had a step on the Penguins defense.

15:31: Crosby flies through the Panthers zone and gets another quality scoring chance. His shot goes off the stomach of Vokoun.

16:07: Vokoun robs Kennedy on another two-on-one by catching his wrist shot in the catching glove.

17:10: Florida continues to turn the puck over in their own zone. Malkin took a pass away but the Penguins couldn't ge a scoring chance out of the turnover.

20:00: After a dominant first period the Penguins look to keep the pressure on the Panthers in the second period.SECOND PERIOD

A peek inside the Penguins locker room at BankAtlantic Center.FIRST PERIOD NOTES:- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had five shots on goal.- The Penguins had a 10-8 advantage on the faceoff dots.- Each team had 10 hits in the first period.0:00: A great first period for the Penguins sees them leading the Panthers, 2-1. Pittsburgh outshoots the Panthers, 19-8, in the opening frame.

1:04: Nathan Horton shows great patience to wait with the puck to wait for a late man. Jordan Leopold was that player and Horton fed him at the right point for the one-timer. Leopold's shot got behind Fleury even though the Penguins netminder got a piece of the rubber. Penguins 2, Panthers 1.

2:01: Ballard's efforts go a long way to helping the Panthers kill off the penalty to Garrison.

3:02: Keith Ballard makes not one but two saves in the crease on Crosby when it looked as though the Penguins captain was going to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.

4:01: We have our first penalty of the contest as Jason Garrison is sent to the box for boarding.

4:56: Here is a picture of Penguins goaltending coach Gilles Meloche filling in on the bench for Mike Yeo.

4:56: Our final moment of the decade for the first period:

#7 – Just when it appeared the Detroit Red Wings were set to raise the Stanley Cup in their home rink Maxime Talbot send the game into overtime with a late tally and Petr Sykora won it for the Penguins in the third overtime as the Penguins defeated the Red Wings, 4-3, in Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.

6:05: Brooks Orpik steps up in the neutral zone to slam Radek Dvorak to the ice in a great open-ice hit.

7:07: Our No. 8 best moment of the decade takes us back to a regular-season game last year at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

#8 – The Penguins were down by two goals to the Detroit Red Wings late in the game on Nov. 11, 2008 but Jordan Staal’s hat trick goal with less than a minute remaining tied the game, 5-5. In overtime, Staal stole the puck in the neutral zone and fed Ruslan Fedotenko for the game-winning goal. This win further gave the Penguins confidence they could win in Detroit, a fact which would pay off later that season…

9:21: Great transition play by the Penguins allows them to take a 2-0 lead. Alex Goligoski steps up at the Penguins blue line and shoots a backhand pass off the boards to Crosby flying through the neutral zone. Crosby's shot beats Vokoun over the glove. Penguins 2, Panthers 0.

11:32: There is great pace to this hockey game as the Penguins have taken there game up another notch after Kennedy's opening goal.

13:55: Here is the No. 9 moment of the decade for the Penguins:

#9 – The Penguins and Buffalo Sabres met in the inaugural Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. Pittsburgh came away with a memorable 2-1 victory thanks to picturesque game-deciding goal in the shootout off the blade of Sidney Crosby.

14:11: Kennedy's first goal in 15 games gives the Penguins an important first goal. Kennedy stole the puck from Cory Stillman at the Penguins blue line and skated two-on-one with Matt Cooke. Vokoun got a piece of the shot but it had eyes and bounced over the goal line. Penguins 1, Panthers 0.

16:15: Tomas Vokoun makes a great diving recovery in his crease to prevent Crosby from giving the Penguins an early lead on a wraparound attempt.

17:16: The Penguins-Panthers matchup is the second Pittsburgh-Miami professional sports matchup of the afternoon as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 30-24, at Landshark Stadium earlier today. With help the Steelers can stil l sneak back into the playoffs to try to defend their Super Bowl championship. The Panthers showed the game on the Jumbotron before this game.

18:25: Jordan Staal barely missed getting his stick on a loose puck to the right of the cage as the rubber bounced off the end boards following a shot from Tyler Kennedy. Pittsburgh appears to have good jump early here against Florida.

20:00: The Penguins look to finish off a four-game sweep of the season series against the Panthers.

FIRST PERIOD

STAT OF THE NIGHT: If you are worried about the Penguins recent struggles ponder this fact. Last year the Penguins went on a 3-7 stretch beginning on Dec. 20. This year they are 1-5 since Dec. 21. Things worked out well last year despite some holiday struggles and they will this season as well.

5:04 PM: Yesterday we presented you with the top-10 highlights from the 2009 calendar year for the Penguins. We conclude our look back today with the top-10 Penguins' moments from the first decade of the 21st century.

Leading off the countdown - none other than Sidney Crosby - who will find himself in these highlights on more than one occasion.

#10 – Mellon Arena was rocking on April 17, 2006 when Sidney Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to record 100 points in a season when he set up a Ryan Malone goal.

5:01 PM: For the second-consecutive game the Penguins will be without the services of Sergei Gonchar, still feeling the effects of blocking a Brian Rolston shot at New Jersey on Wednesday. Eric Godard is the Penguins' other scratch. Florida does not have any scratches. Marc-Andre Fleury gets the call in goal for Pittsburgh.

5:00 PM: The Penguins will look to end a four-game losing streak when they take on the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center. They will do so without the services of assistant coach Mike Yeo who spent time today in a Florida hospital after he didn't feel well following yesterday's game. We wish Coach Yeo all the best and hope to see him back at the rink on Tuesday when the Penguins take on the Atlanta Thrashers at Mellon Arena.Click here to read all the details.